In the 1950s, MGM underwent a sea change, and started primarily producing musicals. Most of the great stars of song and dance worked for MGM at the time, including Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Frank Sinatra.

Production continued at a rapid pace into the 1970s. This slowed after the firm was purchased (some say raided) by Nevada millionare Kirk Kerkorian[?]. He downsized[?] the company and sold off massive amounts of historical memorabilia, including Dorothy's red slippers (from The Wizard of Oz).

Through the 1970s the studio output essentially stopped, and by 1979 Kerkorian issued a statement claiming that MGM was now primarily a hotel company. In 1986 he underlined that statement by selling the studios to Ted Turner, who was primarily interested in gaining the rights to the MGM movie archives. However he also managed to expand the overall film library and production system with the purchase of United Artists in 1981.

Turner later sold the studios themselves to Giancarlo Parretti[?] in 1986. Under the management of Parretti (and his backers, Credit Lyonnais[?]) MGM Studios made a brief resurgence in the 1990s, producing such films as Get Shorty[?] and Leaving Las Vegas. However they continued losing money over the entire period and eventually sold the firm—back to Kerkorian.